Elon Musk's SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around the Earth, which the company called the largest-ever "rideshare" mission by a U.S.-based rocket. The mission, dubbed SSO-A, also marked the third voyage to space for the same Falcon 9 rocket - another milestone for SpaceX's cost-cutting reusable rocket technology.

SpaceX announced a new-plan to launch a tourist around the Moon using its Big-Falcon-Rocket-(BFR), a massive launch vehicle that is being designed to carry people into deep-space. “SpaceX has signed the world’s first private-passenger to fly-around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle - an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of travelling to space,” the company said on Twitter.

SpaceX will not send tourists around the Moon this year as previously announced, and will delay the project until the middle of next year, US media reported on Monday. "A new timetable for the flight now postponed until at least mid-2019 and likely longer hasn't been released" by the California-based company, said the report in the Wall Street Journal.